After a furious row, Catania have taken back director general Pietro Lo Monaco. “He's like Leo Messi to us.”

President AntoninoPulvirenti reacted very angrily to news Lo Monaco would be helping to buy out struggling club Salernitana, setting an ultimatum.

“My worry was that Salernitana are historically an important club and can easily get to Serie A quite quickly, so could become our rivals,” the President told ItaSportPress.

“On top of that, our fans do not traditionally have a good rapport with their Salernitana counterparts, so I was rather worried.

“We met repeatedly over the last few days after Lo Monaco tended his resignation, but he has continued to work for us on the transfer market.

“He was upset and did not like my interpretation. We've known each other a long time and Catania are too special a project to be abandoned for a misunderstanding.

“I think I convinced him to carry on working for us. If we want to make an analogy, Lo Monaco is like Messi to us, as he works brilliantly with Barcelona and less so for Argentina. Someone gives his best when what surrounds him helps that to happen.”